Friday, 25 March 2011

I have been busy dissecting this Starbucks cake. My friend spotted it the other day and has set me a challenge to replicate it for her birthday. It's official title is 'Salted Caramel Sweet Square', I presume due to its layer of salty caramel, sweet biscuit base and chocolate topping. And it's a square.

So I have been carefully picking this little slice apart. I will begin at the bottom. A basic biscuit and butter base, much like you'd have on a cheesecake, so that's easy enough. Next is a layer of caramel. I can't say I could taste any saltiness in it, but I like that idea so I'll add a pinch to mine. Interspersed amongst the caramel were tiny biscuit balls and pecan nuts. Nice touch. The top was a layer of drizzled chocolate and scattered pecans. Out of interest, I looked at Starbucks' website, where a list of ingredients for their Salted Caramel Sweet Square included carrageenan and palm kernel oil. Yum. They also state that this cake is "topped with a layer of pretzels", but I looked hard and couldn't find one.

In conclusion then, this bar is very much like the classic Millionaire's Shortbread, but with added salt (apparently), biscuits and nuts. Not much to dislike there. I'll let you know how I get on....